Confidence Is Key
by PerfectxSweetheartx
Summary: One shot. Gabriella was mocked, labeled, and humiliated during her first week of freshman year at East High. One blue eyed boy helps her. When she leaves for two years and comes back with a new look and a new personality, she still doesn't forget him.


Confidence Is Key

One-shot

She tried ignoring the stares, the whispering, the snickering coming from all directions, but how do you ignore something like that when you're surrounded and have nowhere to run?

Gabriella knew she wasn't the prettiest girl in the world. She knew that. But it didn't bother her until she walked into the building known as East High, where she was constantly reminded of her short, shoulder length, stringy hair that hadn't yet matured into her mother's beautiful curls, her pudgy face that still held her baby fat, her crooked teeth that hadn't yet held braces, her large glasses that masked her horrible eye sight, and lastly her overweight build and breast-less chest that stuck to her frame because she hadn't yet hit puberty. No, she didn't care until she was surrounded. Surrounded by the cruel, judgmental stares of East High's student body.

She winced as she trudged down the longest hallway at East High, her head held down, her eyes glued to the floor and her payless pink sneakers. _I hate school, I hate people, I hate myself. _She repeated in her head, trying to keep her mind off the whispered words that found their way into her head.

Gabriella was a freshman, it being her first year at East High. She had only been attending for a little over a week and she just couldn't take it anymore. Ever since the first day of school when she walked through the large doors at the schools entrance with a timid smile on her face, she had been labeled as a geek, a fat, disgusting geek. _Geeky Gabi_. In just a week she had become Geeky Gabi.

"Hi Taylor." She whispered, trying not to attract any attention.

"Hey Gabs." Her best friend of four years greeted, sliding a book into her locker. Taylor had been Gabriella's best friend since the 6th grade when they had met and were made reading buddies. She was smaller than the brunette, she had already hit puberty, and she was pretty enough to not be made fun of. Taylor was also considered a nerd, but no one messed with her, because Taylor Mckessie was an independent, strong willed nerd. If anyone messed with her or Gabriella in front of her, she didn't waste a second before telling them off with her edgy attitude.

"How was your weekend?" The dark haired beauty asked, looking over at her best friend and frowning as she found her looking down and taking small glances at everyone around her. "Gabi, you can't keep worrying about other people. Just ignore them and stand up straight. Confidence is key."

She sighed, smiling lightly before hugging her books closer to her chest. "Can we just go to homeroom?"

"Sure thing." Taylor shut her locker and pushed her shoulders back, smiling with self assurance and latching her arm onto Gabriella's. "Let's go!"

They walked down the hallway, passing the cheerleading squad who all started snickering at Gabriella.

Taylor growled at them and nudged her closest girl friend in the other direction. "Stupid bimbos." She hissed. They entered homeroom and noticed almost everyone had already arrived. "I'll talk to you after class." She whispered to Gabriella who nodded in response.

Taylor took her seat in the front while Gabriella walked past her towards her seat in the back. "Umph!" She squealed as she was tripped and she went flying to the floor, her books scattered across the white tile. She winced and sat up, looking up slowly to be met with the eyes of Tina Haywood. The head cheerleader.

"Oops." The blonde haired girl said, laughing into her mouth and accepting a high five from another cheerleader seated next to her.

Gabriella bit her lip to sustain her tears, reaching over to gather her books.

"Here, let me help you."

Her head shot up and she gasped slightly, her chocolate brown eyes locking onto electric blue.

"Don't worry about Tina, her tricks are lame anyway." He said with a small smile, holding out a blue science book, which she took timidly.

"Thank you." She whispered, getting to her knees to stand up.

"Look, Geeky Gabi can't even lift her own weight!" Tina announced to the class.

Gabriella looked up and watched as the whole class erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Tina, what the hell…" The blue eyed boy hissed.

Tina furrowed her eyebrows and leaned over to him, fluttering her eyelashes. "Hey baby, you wanted something."

"Yeah, for you to shut the fuck up." He whispered, not noticing how Gabriella had dropped all her books on the floor and placed her hands on the desks beside her to get to her feet.

"Baby, I'm only joking around." Tina scoffed.

"Yeah, whatever." He said with disgust, looking down to check on Gabriella who had finally gotten to her feet and started bolting towards the door. He furrowed his eyebrows when he found her books on the floor again and he followed her retreating back towards the door.

Gabriella pushed through the aisle of desks, tears falling down her face rapidly.

"Gabi!" Taylor called, placing her arm on her shoulder which Gabriella ripped away, not wanting anything or anyone stopping her from escape.

Just as she made it to the door, Ms. Darbus, the homeroom teacher walked in, papers in hand.

"Ms. Montez, where are you-"

Gabriella pushed past Ms. Darbus, accidently knocking the papers out of the drama teacher's hands, the class erupting in laughter again.

The blue eyed boy, known as Troy Bolton, first freshman to ever make starting varsity in basketball, stood up and sympathetically watched Gabriella run out the door, wiping at her tear covered face.

The teacher watched as her papers went flying everywhere. "MS. MONTEZ!" She bellowed angrily.

However, it was too late. Gabriella had made her way out of the classroom, out of the school, and the next day, oblivious to everyone at East High, she would be on a plane, out of Albuquerque and away from the stares all together.

Gabriella would be gone for two years, no one even caring or noticing that she had been missing. Except for Taylor of course, who did in fact know where her best friend had escaped to.

The young brunette who had been mocked and judged and laughed at would be at an all girls' boarding school in Arizona, where she would be wearing braces, losing her baby fat, and maturing into a beautiful young woman that no one at East High, except for Taylor and a certain blue eyed boy, would even recognize.

Geeky Gabi was no more.

…

**First day of junior year. East High School. **

Troy walked beside his best friend Chad, his other friends, Zeke and Jason, following behind them. They passed the cheerleading squad, Tina Haywood still being the captain. "Hi, Troy!" They all called in unison, giggling ferociously afterwards at the charming smile he gave them.

"You gotta show me how you do that man." Jason said behind him with a look of awe on his face.

Troy shook his head. "Sure thing man." Just like Gabriella, Troy had changed as well, though not as drastically. He shedded the messy long hair for a side swept look that naturally came out perfectly every time he came out of the shower, his slightly gapped tooth had been fixed and his lanky muscular body had transformed into a tall, bulkier version. Troy was East High's heartthrob.

"Dude, I gotta tell you what I did this summer." Chad grinned excitedly. "You'll never believe who I saw at the beach." He said in a whisper, looking around to see if anyone except for his friends could hear him.

"Who was at the beach, Chad?" He asked with amusement at his best friend of eleven years.

"_Taylor Mckessie_." The afro haired male whispered, whipping his head around to survey his surroundings.

"Taylor Mckessie…" Troy said to himself, trying to remember who she was. "Oh! Yeah, I know her. So, what about her?"

"Dude…" Chad said with disbelief, shaking his head. "That woman is amazing. I think I'm in love."

Troy stopped, looking at Chad, then at Zeke and Jason who had the same expression as him. Zeke was the first one to erupt into laughter, Jason and Troy joining in after him.

"Guys!" Chad whined. "Stop laughing at me! I'm being serious."

The basketball captain stood up straight, biting his lip to suppress his laughter. "Y-yeah, dude, totally. I understand. Y-you're i-in l-_love_!" Troy placed his hands on his knees, his eyes becoming watery from the amount of laughter escaping his mouth, Zeke and Jason collapsing against the lockers beside him.

"Okay, laugh all you want. You guys are just jealous." He gave them all dirty looks before walking off to homeroom.

"Oh come on man!" Troy yelled after him. "We're just messin' with you!"

…

"Gabriella, I am so proud of you." Taylor said to her best friend, hugging her once more, happy that they were reunited.

"Thanks Tay." The beautiful brunette giggled, looking around at the empty hallway. "We should get to homeroom, I think we're late."

"Oh who cares, I can use the i-was-helping-a-new-student excuse." Taylor giggled.

"True."

Taylor looked at her best friend again, still shocked at the transformation. Gabriella was like a stranger to Taylor. Gone was the girl from two years back who had no self confidence, now stood a slim, tanned, gorgeous Gabriella with long shiny black curls, pearly white straight teeth, and eyes that were not masked by glasses, due to glossy unrecognizable contacts. "I can't believe it's you. I just can't get over how damn good you look."

"Well two years can really change a girl. I mean, I got my period, grew a chest, and lost my baby fat." Gabriella laughed as Taylor shut her locker with disbelief. Gabriella? With a sense of humor? This was not the girl she knew but the dark skinned honor student was glowing with pride.

"Oh Gabi, I can't wait for people to see you. Especially Tina Haywood…_bleh_."

Gabriella's smile faltered a bit and she looked around the empty hallway, nudging Taylor closer to the lockers. "Tay…" She whispered. "I actually don't want to make a scene. I don't want to be the talk of the school…" She laughed dryly. "I can see the headlines now: Geeky Gabi returns to East High."

Taylor frowned at the old nickname. "Gabi, you aren't seriously still carrying that old nickname around with you..."

"No, no Taylor I'm not. But the scars are still there and I just want to come back home peacefully. I mean living with my aunt in Arizona was hard enough, she hardly acknowledged me and I missed my mom like crazy, I missed you like crazy."

Taylor smiled. "I missed you too."

Gabriella smiled softly back. "See, I finally get to come back home and I don't want anything to stand in my way of staying…it would break my mom's heart if I left again."

"I understand." She sighed.

"So let's just forget about Geeky Gabi and if people bring it up just pretend you have no idea what they're talking about because that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm no longer going to let people walk all over me. With a new image comes a new personality."

Taylor looked at Gabriella pointedly and they both smirked, knowing what was to come. "Confidence is key!" They sang together, hugging for the last time.

"Now come on, I have a teacher to apologize to and a boy to thank."

"Huh?" Taylor asked, latching her arm onto Gabriella's as they walked towards their homeroom.

She giggled. "You'll see. I just have some loose ends to tie up."

Taylor laughed. "Okay then."

…

Gabriella and Taylor slowly walked into homeroom, biting their lips with anxiety, not wanting to get into trouble with Ms. Darbus.

"Oh my gosh…" Gabriella breathed, looking around the classroom. "It's the exact same as when I left it." She gulped nervously, recognizing the faces that sat at the exact same desks they did two years ago. Nothing had changed.

"You're fine Gabriella. Confidence is key." Taylor whispered, which Gabriella smiled at and responded by shaking negative thoughts out of her head and standing up straight.

"With a new year comes new responsibility my young pupils! Junior year is crucial and I want to stress the importance of…why hello there Ms. Mckessie, you're late." Ms. Darbus placed her hand on her hip and looked at her brightest student with slight disbelief. She was never one to be late.

Taylor glanced hurriedly back at Gabriella before plastering on a smile. "Oh, I'm sorry Ms. Darbus. You see, I was helping a new student and-"

"Oh! A new student!" Ms. Darbus clapped her hands together and looked over Taylor's shoulder at Gabriella. "Ms. Mckessie you can sit down, you, the new student," She eyed the brunette. "Come here."

Gabriella watched as Taylor took her seat in the front just like before and she walked confidently to Ms. Darbus with a sweet smile on her face. "Hi Ms. Darbus, you probably don't remember me but I'm Gabriella Montez." She whispered, not wanting the whole class to discover her reappearance at the school.

Ms. Darbus looked at Gabriella skeptically before her eyes widened. "My dear, young lady you have changed so very much."

She giggled softly. "Yeah, I guess I have."

"Last time I saw you-"

"I ran out of your classroom and sent your papers flying everywhere. About that, I'm really sorry." She frowned with shame.

Ms. Darbus let out a high pitched giggle. "Oh dear, it's fine. That was in the past. It's a new day, full of new memories." Yup, Darbus was still the same. "Now why don't you take your previous seat behind Mr. Bolton, it's been waiting for you."

Gabriella smiled thankfully. "Okay, will do. But the thing is," She smiled coyly. "I kinda don't want people to know that I'm back, so if you could just treat me as the new student, I would really appreciate it."

The theater norm nodded understandingly, before turning to her other students. "Class! I'm just going to run out for a few seconds to go get a few things for our new student! Behave." Ms. Darbus winked at the brunette who smiled back before strutting out of the classroom.

"Who's the new chick that walked in with Taylor?" Chad asked, leaning over to Troy who was wondering the same thing.

"No idea man, but I'm getting this dejavu feeling…like I've seen her before or something." He watched as the beautiful girl turned around with a soft smile on her face. She eyed out her seat behind him before switching her gaze to lock with his. She gave him a gentle grin which surprised Troy and started walking in his direction, holding her books to her side casually.

As Gabriella walked down the aisle she smiled at Taylor and watched with a smirk as Tina whispered to the girl next to her. "Who the hell is she?" Tina hissed.

Suddenly the decision to stay low key vanished from Gabriella's mind and she marched straight up to Tina's desk, standing between Troy and the girl that had run her out of school. "Hi Tina, do you remember me?" She smirked, placing her hand on the blonde girl's desk and leaning on it. Screw keeping her identity a secret. She was out for blood.

"Uh…no. Am I supposed to?" Tina scoffed with attitude.

"Hmm…let me refresh your memory." Gabriella pushed Tina's books off her desk, the loud thud of them landing on the floor echoing throughout the classroom, getting everyone's attention.

"What the fuck!" Tina screeched. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

Gabriella glanced back at Taylor who had a speechless expression on her face. She smirked at her best friend before turning back to Tina. "I'm Geeky Gabi. It's nice to see you again Tiny Tits Tina."

The class erupted into laughter at the new nickname Gabriella had given the blonde head cheerleader.

"G-Geeky Gabi?" Tina stuttered with disbelief, eyeing her figure. "What happened to you?"

"I grew up." Gabriella sneered, giving Tina one last winning smirk before turning around to face Troy.

"Hi." She said sweetly, catching Troy off guard.

"Hi…" He said back unsurely, not believing this was the girl he helped two years ago. She had completely transformed. "G-Gee-I mean, uh…Gabriella?" He had heard that she skipped the country after being humiliated by Tina, moving to Mexico and never being heard of again. Now here she was, looking healthier than ever, and looking like the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life.

"Yeah, it's Gabriella." She giggled, causing a slow smile to spread across the golden boys face. "You probably don't remember me…but you helped me two years ago. The day that I left."

"I remember…" Troy said with disbelief. This was the same girl.

"Well, I never really got to say thank you. So, uhm…thank you." She giggled again and gave him a smile before taking her seat behind him.

"No problem…" He whispered distantly, watching her place her books on her desk and look around the classroom. He turned back around in his seat and looked down at his hands that lay on his desk. "Woah.."

…

Gabriella hummed sweetly as she organized her locker, truly not caring at the stares of disbelief that came her way. She closed her locker after dumping all of her stuff in it and walked down the hallway towards Taylor's, looking up confidently the whole way.

"Damn…" One guy said as she walked by him.

"Helloooo honey." Another said.

"Who is she?" A short girl said with pigtails.

"I would tap that."

"She's gorgeous…"

"Great. One more girl to compete with."

"I'm so going to be best friends with that girl…"

"Did you hear she called out Tina Haywood?"

"Did _you_ hear she talked face to face with Troy Bolton?"

"Did _you_ hear that he totally smiled at her?"

"Ooo! I heard he winked at her!"

"Hey Tay." Gabriella giggled, leaning against the locker beside her best friend.

"Hey girl hey." Taylor laughed. "Did you hear you're like a legend now? I'm so proud to call you my best friend."

She giggled. "It's whatever. I'm starving, do you wanna go to lunch?"

The darker girl clenched her eyes shut with guilt. "Crap." She sent her best friend an apologetic look. "I can't, I'm sorry. I have a chemistry lab to make up."

Gabriella shook her head, not wanting her friend to feel bad. "Tay it's totally fine, I'll see you later?"

She smiled, still slightly guilty. "Definitely!"

"Good luck on your lab!" The beauty waved before spinning around and walking towards the cafeteria.

"Thanks!"

Gabriella walked into the large lunch room and scanned the area, smiling contently even as everyone turned to look at her as she walked towards the lunch line. She grabbed a sandwich, an apple, and a water bottle before biting her lip at the lack of friends to sit with. Gabriella merely shrugged and walked out of the cafeteria with her lunch, knowing the perfect place to go.

…

She walked up the metal staircase, a grin forming on her face as the lovely flowers came into view. The roof top garden was Gabriella's safe sanctuary. The one place that she could go to and relieve herself of the stares and whispers. This place was the only reason she survived that first week back in freshman year.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said with surprise, noticing someone else sitting on a stool and looking towards the sky, realizing she wasn't the only one who knew of the secret place. She quickly turned around to find somewhere else to go.

Troy whipped his head around and watched her retreating back. "Wait!" He called out.

Gabriella turned around and furrowed her eyebrows with a smirk, recognizing him instantly. "You again aye?"

Troy laughed. "Yeah, I guess so."

"What are you doing up here?" She asked, taking a step towards him.

"I come up here to uh…think." He said scratching the back of his neck.

"Yeah, I used to do that too." Gabriella smiled. "It's a good place for that. Very _tranquil_."

He chuckled. "Used to?"

"Yeah, freshman year I would come up here to get away from all the…people. The whispering, the mocking, ya know?"

Troy's smile faltered and he looked away awkwardly. "Yeah, that must've been tough."

Gabriella shrugged. "It made me stronger. Besides, I don't live in the past anymore, I'm all about the present and the future."

He smiled at that, respecting her outlook on things. "That's really brave of you, Gabriella."

She smiled. "Yeah well…anyway, sorry for intruding, I'll just go."

"Wait!" He called again just as she turned around to leave.

"…yeah?" She asked, eyeing him curiously.

"I mean, uhm, you don't have to leave. You can sit here and eat with me…if you want! That is…uh yeah."

Gabriella laughed causing the usually confident basketball stud to blush with embarrassment. "I'd love to, thanks." She pulled up a stool next to him and placed her lunch tray beside his brown paper bag on the shelf that was in front of them.

"So…" Troy started, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Where have you been the last two years…?" He glanced at her through the corner of his eye.

"I was living in Arizona with my aunt. I went to an all girls' boarding school." She looked down at her tray, picking at her sandwich. She really should remember to pack more.

"Oh, did you like it there?"

Gabriella laughed with no humor. "Hated it."

He furrowed his eyebrows with confusion. "Then why did you stay for so long?"

She sighed, staring off in the distance. "I was afraid to come back here, but as soon as my sophomore year ended I realized how much I missed my mom, and Taylor. So I took the first plane back to Albuquerque."

Troy looked down at his food in thought. All those stupid rumors…none of them were true.

Gabriella watched his face and smirked. "I know what you're wondering…"

He looked over at her rapidly. "Huh?"

"I know what you're thinking…how the hell did she change so much?" Gabriella giggled and shook her head. "I don't have an eating disorder, and I'm not into the whole plastic surgery thing, by the way."

Troy sighed mentally. "Oh, well I never thought that." However he did look at all possible ways that she could've changed so drastically, so he couldn't help but wonder…

"Mhm." Gabriella said sarcastically, a crimson stain creeping onto his cheeks again at her knowing look. "You want to know don't you?"

Troy just looked at her with a smirk.

"Well, it's actually not as exciting as you might think. My story's actually quite boring." Gabriella turned in her seat and faced him. "Let's start with the fat part of me, like how did I lose so much weight."

He watched her uneasily and waited for her to continue.

"It's called growing up." She giggled, an amused and pointed look coming from the handsome guy in front of her. "I lost all my baby fat as soon as I started my sophomore year and after that I got really into running. I started cross country and track and next thing you know, I'm not well ya know, what I used to be. Honestly, I didn't even notice the change until one day my aunt came home from a two month long business trip and nearly jumped when she saw me."

Troy laughed along with Gabriella and watched her with admiration. He loved how she spoke with such a nonchalant tone and how her confidence never seemed to falter as she told him about the toughest parts of her life.

"Now on to everything else." She said, getting comfortable. "You see my straight, shiny white smile?" She grinned cheekily causing Troy to grin as well.

He nodded. She really did have a beautiful smile.

"It's called braces." She said sassily, causing Troy to give her yet another pointed look.

"Yeah, I figured that part out." He chuckled.

"And my hair, well the curls were always there, hidden under my mess of a crow's nest, but it hadn't matured yet, but I always knew it would. My mom has the same hair as me so I figured I'd grow into it one day."

Troy smiled slowly before he reached out and twirled one of her soft curls around his finger. "I see." He said softly, before looking down at her shining eyes and removing his hand abruptly. "Uh, sorry."

Gabriella giggled. "Stop being so nervous around me. I don't bite." She said, a smirk on her face. "Well…unless I'm forced to."

Troy laughed lightly and nodded. "Alright, sorry. Go on."

"Actually that's about it…oh yeah and I got contact lenses. The end."

"I guess it is." Troy grinned. "You're way different than I ever thought, Gabriella."

"Well, it's funny how people don't take the time to get to know someone just because of what they see on the outside, when really in two years that person could come back looking completely different, and then everyone would notice. It's a funny world we live in." Gabriella looked off into the horizon with thoughtful eyes.

Troy watched with amazement at this girl that had been through so much, this girl that had been on the bottom but ended up on top, this _woman_ that absolutely took his breath away.

"Gabriella?" He whispered.

She slowly turned towards him. "Yes?"

"Will you go out with me on Saturday night…? Like on a real date?" He breathed deeply, his face not even an inch away from hers.

She stared at him with confusion for a moment, not registering his question. "You want to go out…with me?"

He smiled slowly, nodding in response.

A bright smile erupted onto her lips. "I'd love to."

He grinned and moved his hand up to the side of her face, gently placing a loose curl behind her ear. "Tell me…" He said softly. "How'd you do it? Go through all of that and be so…so true to yourself? So optimistic?"

She mulled over his question for a bit before shrugging lightly. "There are other people in the world that have it worse than me, I'm no exception." Her eyes hardened, a look that Troy had not yet seen her have in the short while since reuniting with the brunette. "If I wanted to change mentally," She gulped thoughtfully."I was going to have to change physically as well, change how people looked at me, to change my state of mind. So I didn't just sit there and be depressed about what I didn't have, I tried with all that I had to win what I could have." Shrugging softly again, she smiled. "I found something that loved. Running. It let me be free, it helped me both mentally and physically. I guess sometimes, you can't always wait for people to save you," She sighed. "You have to save yourself."

He smiled sadly. "That's amazing." The world really did need more people like her.

For the first time, a tint of crimson spread over her cheeks as she looked down. "People change, Troy. It's sometimes unbelievable. And sometimes unwanted. But," She looked up again, meeting his eyes with a strong stare. "It happens."

He smiled softly, his eyes scanning her perfect face, wondering where she had come from. His eyes suddenly glanced down at her pink lips and his heart started to beat faster. "Gabriella…"

"Mhm?" She breathed, closing her eyes peacefully.

"I'm sorry."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "For what?" She asked, opening her eyes again to be met with his face that felt only a centimeter away. She gulped at the close distance.

Suddenly, catching her off guard, Troy leaned forward and closed the small gap that separated them, kissing her softly and leaning his forehead against hers. "For not running after you."

Gabriella kept her eyes closed with surprise, a grin spread across her face. "It's okay."

**OKAY THAT'S IT. I know this plot line is common but I just had to do it. It's my very first one-shot so I hope you all enjoyed it. PLEASE REVIEW, so I know if I should write more one-shots in the future. Love you all, **

**xoxoxo Perfectxsweetheartx.**


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